Thursday, 1 June 2017

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Lawrence Wallace

Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy is a self-help manual about how to use CBT (Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy) to deal with anxiety, depression and some phobias. It’s
often done with therapists but this book provides a way to do it at home, for
those more comfortable in that setting, as well as being a way to touch up on
what you’ve already learned at therapy. The book breaks down exactly what CBT
is, how it works, and gives the seven main steps needed to do the therapy. It
also gives an in-depth look at how to incorporate CBT with various religions or
with non-believers, depending on how you feel. One of the parts I found
interesting was a section about sin and what it is, how it affects us and how
it ties in with CBT. This section is not based so much on religion but how sin
can affect us. There is also a list of additional books that can be read for
further information and help, if needed or interested. At the back of the book,
there is a workbook that goes along with what is discussed in the book. If you read
the digital version of the book, as I did, you can always print off the pages
needed or set the workbook up on your own. I found this part to be particularly
helpful because it gives the reader a little nudge to do the work that the
author discusses in the book.

I’ve
had experience with CBT through a therapist and, to be honest, found it
useless. There’s nothing like trying to work through your issues while the
therapist subtly looks at her watch constantly. This book allowed me to sit
down at my own leisure in a comfortable setting and start to work on CBT. The
author writes in a simple and understandable way that makes it easy and
interesting reading. He makes it clear that this is not an overnight process
and not an easy exercise but it is doable. I liked the fact that the author
comes across as likeable and not over my head. He called it achieving a harmony
in your mind and that is so true. The workbook is very simple and it is
explained throughout the book as to how to do it. There are a lot of helpful
quotes from various sources that also provided a lot of insight.

I read
this on my ereader and it formatted very well. The cover was eye-catching and
grabbed my attention. This is truly a worthwhile read!